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How Do You Spend Your Money: Quality or Quantity?

One of the time honored debates in my house is whether to spend money on quality or quantity.

Now, deciding between quantity and quality is easy in some aspects of life. For example, you would want one quality friend over 20 acquaintances. Or, you would want 1 solid, high paying job offer over 5 that aren’t so great.

However, when it comes to purchasing items, it’s been hard for me to jump on the “quality” bandwagon because, well, quality is often way more expensive.

Why I Shopped Quantity

I admit that in the past few years, I’ve been a quantity shopper when it comes to clothes. I’d often walk into stores and head straight for the back looking for the sale items. I might purchase one shirt or one pair of shoes, not entire outfits that would work together. I might even buy a shirt I only half way liked or that didn’t fit all that well just because it was so cheap. Basically, I was more focused on having several items to choose from than having several items that would last a long time.

This method worked just fine when I was in college and didn’t need anything more than a few pairs of jeans and a few shirts to wear to class. However, once I became a professional, I realized I just didn’t have a lot of clothes that would be appropriate for work. Not only that, I had things that didn’t fit that well, and I had to start to think about investing in professional clothing that would last me for a lot longer.

Considerations for Buying Quality

The only problem, of course, is that professional clothing can be quite pricey. One blazer or one suit can easily cost $100 or more. Again, it was hard for me to spend that on something, especially because I couldn’t wear it every day. However, slowly over time, I have replaced my college wardrobe with clothes that are appropriate to wear as a grown up.

This same principle applies when it comes to just about everything. For example, when you want to purchase new kitchen appliances, should you spend $2,000 on low end versions and buy a refrigerator, dishwasher, and stove? Or, do you splurge and spend $2,000 on just one very high quality fridge? On the quantity side, you could spend the same amount and get more. On the quality side, a higher end fridge might be better for resale value or your overall enjoyment of your home due to special features it might have.

Essentially, choosing between quality and quantity might seem easy; however, when it comes to paying for expensive products for yourself or your home, it gets harder and harder to decide how you should spend your money.

As I said, I’ve come to be more concerned about quality over the past few years after much convincing from my husband. However, I still hunt down deals and try to buy quality items when they are on sale. It’s not an easy balance, but it’s an important lesson to consider for your financial future.

Do you buy more quality items or focus more on saving money and getting quantity?

2 comments on “How Do You Spend Your Money: Quality or Quantity?”

My wife and I have definitely discussed this over the years. She usually goes for quantity and I’m pretty picky about quality. Often I won’t even buy something if I can’t afford to get the quality version of it. Which isn’t always the right choice. 🙂